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How long does it take to learn French? | ||
Tags: Time to learn | French | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| Jurga Triglot Newbie Lithuania Joined 5241 days ago 19 posts - 24 votes Speaks: Lithuanian*, English, Latvian Studies: German, Arabic (classical), French | Message 9 of 21 13 August 2012 at 6:11pm | IP Logged | |||||
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OK, thank you guys. I believe now I could do that... And I have just realized that the
biggest part of language knowledge actually comes not from the textbooks... I guess I need to get some kind of inspiration (like a band maybe...not sure) that would make me really willing to understand (therefore learn) French. But first of all, I've got to get this nomination for studies by my university anyway. I could make some grammar exercises meanwhile ;) And thanks everyone for the tips! Тhe wide range of learning material is a bit confusing sometimes. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Josquin Heptaglot Senior Member Germany Joined 4648 days ago 2266 posts - 3992 votes  Speaks: German*, English, French, Latin, Italian, Russian, Swedish Studies: Japanese, Irish, Portuguese, Persian | Message 10 of 21 13 August 2012 at 6:28pm | IP Logged | |||||
Well, as an Erasmus student, the requirements for his work won't be that high. I once had a roommate from the francophone Switzerland who didn't speak a (comprehensible) word of German the day she arrived in Germany. She somehow managed to attend university nevertheless, learned some decent German during the course of one semester, and even prolonged her stay in Germany for an additional semester. Of course, I had to review her presentations (she was studying political science) and correct her papers, but she managed to survive. I don't know if you're intending to do exams and get credits, but quite often Erasmus students simply enjoy being abroad. I have never known an Erasmus student who was overwhelmed by the work he had to do, regardless of the foreign language. 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Jurga Triglot Newbie Lithuania Joined 5241 days ago 19 posts - 24 votes Speaks: Lithuanian*, English, Latvian Studies: German, Arabic (classical), French | Message 11 of 21 13 August 2012 at 6:44pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Well, it depends. Almost everyone I know somehow seem not to have faced serious problems
with the language after all. Usually lecturers are understanding and they at least allow to use dictionaries in exams, for example. France though is known for very strict attitude and no exceptions are made for foreign students in some universities. Well, no matter what is said I'm still a bit scared:) 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| s_allard Triglot Senior Member Canada Joined 5234 days ago 2704 posts - 5425 votes Speaks: French*, English, Spanish Studies: Polish | Message 12 of 21 13 August 2012 at 6:44pm | IP Logged | |||||
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I think most people would agree that it is the active skills (speaking and writing) that are the most difficult to master. To add to the excellent advice that others (@emk in particular) have given, I would suggest working with recordings and transcripts and, ultimately, get some private tutoring if that is an option.
I don't think that one can reach the ability to write university-level term papers in 5 months. In fact, I think that any presentation or paper should be revised by a native speaker. But in terms of being able to attend lectures, I don't see a problem. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Arekkusu Hexaglot Senior Member Canada bit.ly/qc_10_lec Joined 5185 days ago 3971 posts - 7747 votes Speaks: English, French*, GermanC1, Spanish, Japanese, Esperanto Studies: Italian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Romanian, Estonian | Message 13 of 21 13 August 2012 at 7:06pm | IP Logged | |||||
In 5 months, you will not master anything. But you can do an awful lot. How much depends on what you do during these 5 months, and I'm not talking about the classroom or about studying. I'm talking about living the language. Forget every other language you know, and make these 5 months entirely and completely about French. Tell everyone around you that you intend to not speak any word of any other language and state your goal clearly. Every time the opportunity arises to slack off or slip into another language, ask yourself what you'll think about your behaviour once you're back home and realize that such an opportunity may never present itself again. Make the best of it. 4 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
 emk Diglot Moderator United States Joined 5336 days ago 2615 posts - 8806 votes Speaks: English*, FrenchB2 Studies: Spanish, Ancient Egyptian Personal Language Map | Message 14 of 21 13 August 2012 at 8:07pm | IP Logged | |||||
Fortunately, many students have trouble writing university-level term papers. Just ask any professor. Whenever I feel lousy about my ability to do intellectual stuff in French, the following video always cheers me right up. It's a series of native French speakers crashing and burning during their bac orals: Oral du bac (in French) I could definitely do better than that, despite my limited vocabulary and my tendency to say "Pardon?" every 2 minutes. Now, I'm sure those students are really actors, but you get the idea: Not all university students can express subtle, nuanced ideas in their own language.
Hmm, that sounds painfully familiar. :-) I spent about two of my four months doing almost exactly that, and it helped tremendously. Jurga, if you're looking for specific advice, start with Arekkusu's. You might not be able to exclude other languages from your life completely, but that's roughly the level of determination required to get fluent quickly. Feel free to post details about your current French skills, and I'm sure that people will be happy to give you some ideas about where to start. 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| DaraghM Diglot Senior Member Ireland Joined 5955 days ago 1947 posts - 2923 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: French, Russian, Hungarian | Message 15 of 21 14 August 2012 at 1:50pm | IP Logged | |||||
Do you think your French might actually have been higher than A2+, and may have been at B1? Am I correct in stating that you took a long, but very consistent journey, to your self assessed A2+ level ? 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| vermillon Triglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 4482 days ago 602 posts - 1042 votes Speaks: French*, EnglishC2, Mandarin Studies: Japanese, German | Message 16 of 21 14 August 2012 at 3:22pm | IP Logged | |||||
Err, these are of course fake videos, part of an ad for a pen brand. The answers are scripted to be as stupid as possible... Plus nobody would ask you who De Gaulle is on a bac oral exam... :p (well, not denying that some students could be that ignorant) 1 person has voted this message useful |
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